Hey there everyone, I made it over to Adkins Arboretum in Ridgely (Caroline County), Maryland this morning on Saturday, April 18, 2009 for the 4th Annual Arbor Day Fun Run 5K. It was sunny and warm; great day for a well-shaded cross country and trail run. Like I said, I had run here back in the April of 2007 when they had a 10K option (and I ran the 5K), and I liked the venue and wanted to get back to it. My goal was sort of a long shot; to break 18:26, which had been my 5K split in the 10K on this course. I knew it would be difficult because I was starting to feel thirsty even before the race, I was still coughing, and I had not been running that much these past couple of weeks because of the missions trip and from feeling sick.
We started out going straight, and then making a right and making this lap around this field (the grassy terrain around which was a bit uneven to say the least). After finishing up this lap, I was already huffing-and-puffing (so much for easing into it). I prayed quickly that God would help me maintain as I entered the narrow, but very well-paved and relatively safe trails that I would be on for just about the rest of the race. I started to feel a little bit better on these trails (and I typically don't run trails that well). I still felt like I was pushing the pace and I knew from before that we would be making a couple of loops in these woods before exiting the woods onto the dirt roads that would take us back to the arboretum.
Running over the bridges and up and down the small rolling hills on the dirt trail brought back memories of when I had run there before, and I definitely recongnized this one tree I had run around a couple of years ago (as well as these wooden teepee-like structures in the woods towards the beginning of the race).
When I was coming up towards the end of the second loop in the woods, one of the course marshalls was pointing left, but I saw arrows going straight and I was confused, trying to figure out what was going on, and I was not being that cautious, that I tripped over something and rolled on the ground, having my glasses fall and my car keys fall out of my hands. God helped me to be resilient, and I quickly rebounded almost painless, bent over to grab my keys and looked around for my glasses for a few seconds before finding them in the dirt, and then I put them back on and ran straight (the direction I was supposed to go the second time around). I probably lost about 5 or 6 seconds because of this fall; no big deal I did not think. There was no one around me at this point, so I did not have any other runners to follow, which was one of the reasons I had gotten confused.
Not long after that trip-up, the trail curved to the left and I followed it out of the woods and onto a dirt road that ran around this huge field. I could see the arboretum building far off to the left, but I had a feeling that this dirt road would probably take me a long time around the fields of the arboretum. I ran straight on these fields, feeling thirsty, but not really dehydrated, and I was huffing. I knew from previous experience that I was almost done; I just had to find that dirt road that angled to the left and that would take me straight to the finish line. At one point, I thought I saw the left-hand turn, but fortunately there was a course marshall right there who said it was a little further up. So I went straight a little while longer, and then I made the left turn (and I saw the arrows pointing that direction too). I knew from there, I was almost to the finish; probably about a 1/4-mile away or so. However, I did not feel like I had that much energy to kick it in with. While on this final dirt road, I saw a corner of the arboretum building, in front of which was the finish line. I looked at my watch and it read about 16:47. I knew I was getting pretty close and I had a feeling that I would beat 18:26. I think at that point I prayed that God would help me to finish strong, or break 18. Well, both happened.
When the arboretum building came into full view, I bolted in as best I could and crossed the finish line in about 17:51; my fastest 5K time in a little over three years! However, I suspect that this course may have been a little short, because I did fall at one point and I felt myself backing off the pace at some points during the race. In addition, I don't think I'm in shape enough just yet to be breaking 18 minutes for a 3.1-mile distance. The race staff said that it was a correct distance. Who knows, maybe it was correct, and God really helped me to run a great race (He's certainly done that before, especially when I least expect it). If it was a little shorter than an actual 5K, then I doubt it was by that much. Either way, I enjoyed the event and seeing some friends and people from the Maryland Eastern Shore that I had not seen in a while. This was a smaller race, but I think compared to 2007, this turnout may have been larger than quite possibly the 5K and 10K combined (and that year, the 5K had more finishers than the 10K).
I hope to have some results of this event (or at least the award winners) up on my Caroline County, Maryland Blogspot.Com site (which just has an introduction on it currently) at: http://www.runincarolinecountymd.blogspot.com
Thank you all for stopping by and hope that you enjoy this terrific spring day and weekend! God bless you all :)
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